Areas of Interest

[NOTE: I know I've read a short story or novel about this somewhere, or perhaps it was a tv show. If you recognize that plot, lease let me know if there was ever such a demand made and what it really consisted of.]

WHAT IF … an extraterrestrial civilization claiming to come from a unified home world also claimed that full contact and exchange of technologies with us would be possible only if our planet was under a single world government (regardless what type)?

1) How quickly would interested parties (private, governmental, etc) jump at the chance to bring the rest of the planet under that single yoke, by all means necessary, claiming that doing so would bring an end to all war and a period of unprecedented prosperity to all? And, ironically, how quickly would this plunge the Earth into a war of world domination by our own species?

2) Which countries are more likely to want to remain independents? Developed nations? Third world? Mix?

3) Which pro-countries would have a divided population with a sizable resistance challenge ahead? Developed nations? Third world? Mix?

4) What specific scenarios would be easier to game? Urban? Rural? Mixed?

5) What figures would you use for those scenarios?

6) Which rules?

7) Any other details?

DanTMP linkPS. Let's see if we can keep the discussion in the context of gaming potential and application. Thanks.

Depending on how liberally you interpret "Full World Government" I can't see that happening. Some countries will claim "fake news!" others will resent the infringement on their sovereignty, etc. That being said, the UN is basically the world government as it is now, with very, very limited federal powers. Since there are no other worlds or civilizations known, it cannot exercize interstellar diplomacy or enter into trade agreements. So very liberally interpreted, already here…

I don't know about anyone else, but I absolutely loathe all those science fiction stories and movies from the 50s that had the flying saucers come in to save us from ourselves. Yes. That includes Klaatu and his friend. I almost got kicked out of a science fiction club because of that. And they had elected me president the year before!That puts the lie to the claim that they're the most tolerant people around.

The world will unite together as a one-world government to a degree never believed possible, but only long enough to knock (or die trying to knock) those preachy aliens off their moral high horses for deigning to tell us how to live our lives before going back to our pre-alien invasion status quo.

I see my attempt at irony in another post has spawned a new discussion.

Well meaning enlightened aliens bringing peace on earth is one the most popular tropes in sci-fi, from TDTESS to Carl Sagan (whom I referenced elsewhere) to the Twilight Zone.

There were plenty of those shows* in the 90s too, and more so in just these last couple of decades.

Dan* Example, the new Outer Limits (1995-2000), and similar shows and films. Trek TNG, and the other franchise films and shows talked to death the topic of how backwards were those planets that did not have a single world government.

Ha! If it landed in DC, that alone may be reason for some countries to take offense, and for their diplomats to show up at the WH together with American "voluntareers" carrying picket signs (and perhaps some torches). Lol. Yeah, that would really show the damn Aliens how unified we are. :)

That's still a fun and easy terrain (diorama) project, though probably more for very small scale.

DanPS. The saucer might even crash because of all the politicians giving different conflicting locations for where to land, like the UN (NYC), Congress, WH, etc. All in the hope they are the very first politicians/representatives filmed greeting the aliens. :)

Easy. We tell them that actually we are an autonomous collective with each nation taking turns to act as a quasi-executive branch to direct primary policy for around two centuries, with preset political parties forming factionalized dissent according to certain regional policies and cultures, with such dissent at times expressed in elaborate sporting events we term "wars," that inevitably result in greater scientific and social progress, here let us explain it all to you via a 392 point PowerPoint presentation, while representatives of ours tear apart… I mean, tour, your space vessel. Just have a seat here. Hold on a second while we apply these straps to hold you in place while the presentation occurs. It's for your safety, of course.

1. The UN Security Council could be the core global government.2.None of them-they'd be out of a socio-tech level jump and would be occupied for their own good.3.I figure only religious groups would foment unrest. Or bypassed corporations.4. Don't see any scenario's/campaigns being difficult. Tech disparity can be difficult to balance.5.For Alien I would use Battletech plastic 'mechs, remove the legs (gravitics motive power), put them on a stand and use modern 1/285th vehicles/ infantry. Depends how I define the Aliens.6. Rules….StarGrunt? Variant FFT?…have to think on that.7.For Aliens I would use Drow/40KDark Eldar only paint them as bronze-skinned, copper haired and golden eyes. Very snooty, condescending but honorable and they take the Uplift Civilisation Philosophy seriously. Until their Grav Warbot squishes John Wick's dog….

Hay, I've seen this before in one of those 50's,60's shows year some years back, the aliens showed up saying that we haven't advanced enough and that they would have to destroy us, and the folks at the UN said wait we can do better "Just give us 72 hours!" The aliens did and in 72 hours the whole world was working as one government and world peace was abound, then the aliens said no you got all WRONG!

"Your are supposed to be wagering war among yourself that's what we design you all to do, turns out our expectations of this experiment was all wrong and now we have to destroy the entire plant"

Hay, I've seen this before in one of those 50's,60's shows year some years back, the aliens showed up saying that we haven't advanced enough and that they would have to destroy us, and the folks at the UN said wait we can do better "Just give us 72 hours!" The aliens did and in 72 hours the whole world was working as one government and world peace was abound, then the aliens said no you got all WRONG!

"Your are supposed to be wagering war among yourself that's what we design you all to do, turns out our expectations of this experiment was all wrong and now we have to destroy the entire plant"

WM, you forgot the sequel where a plucky Will Smith leads the world into an unlikely but warm & tingly win against the evil aliens……

Other than a colonial, patronizing mindset I don't quite see why they would insist on unifying a planet other than that they are meddling busybodies just for the sake of it.

Sci-Fi sometimes has a scale problem, in that, especially when the FTL contrivance is invoked. A galaxy is quickly reduced to something the size of a country, planets are counties or cities and the only cultural differences (if they do exist) on any given planet are more a matter of coming from "the wrong side of the tracks" than a true multicultural society, or if they do take it into account, it usually ends up on the "planet of hats" trope side of the argument.

We can't discard that over time an alien society grew into a unified single nation, but wouldn't the variety of our planet be worthy of study rather than give a blanket order to unify it all under one government.

Also one might ask, how did the aliens achieve this if they had the same start as we did ? Were there factors involved we humans might not "benefit" from, such as biological imperatives to act a certain way or did some force or figure unify the planet and what was the reason/method used ?

Now there are reasons why we may want or need to start cooperating or even put somebody in charge of global efforts if we want to tackle large scale projects such as space habitats and exploiting our own solar system or even start our transition to a type II civilisation. A daunting task, but not unfeasible.

Coming back on the subject, the whole "unified government" sounds more like a utopists' answer to our problems by merely shifting the highest decision levels to the planetary scale, which ends up being one of those concepts that gets tossed about as being self-evident, and nobody really questions, other than those of a paranoid mindset who believe that it's all a huge conspiracy to control people.

The problem is that right now there is no blanket solution for our planet. And I'll give one example that is telling of all the hurdles that we'll have to jump. My great grandmother would rather have died of hunger than buy a bread from the baker's right across the street, because back then in a small village at the dawn of the 20th century the main street was the imaginary demarcation line between the good, decent folk on one side and the bad people on the other.

Dan, Aliens demanding a unified earth government are mentioned in "Legions of Steel". In the setting they (LOA-League of Aliens) are only willing to provide earth with high grade technology (such as spaceships and how to manufacture power armour) to defend ourselves from the advancing Machines if we provide a single government. Apperently they dont want to be bothered with talking to everybody.As for why they would want to give us the technology? To put bluntly, they need the cannon fodder, or at least a speedbump.

Much as in the real world though the UNE (United Nations of Earth) is in reality quite fractured with several of the larger countries making their own deals with selected aliens.

Ha! If it landed in DC, that alone may be reason for some countries to take offense, and for their diplomats to show up at the WH together with American "voluntareers" carrying picket signs (and perhaps some torches). Lol. Yeah, that would really show the damn Aliens how unified we are. :)

The extremely polarized denizens of our gov't, etc., would still not agree on anything ! Let alone the rest of the planet's gov'ts …

And I'm sure the ACLU and PETA would somehow get involved. Plus again the media in all forms would go absolutely Full Tilt Bozo to get the "real true story"!

ScoutJock

They'd have to kill us all first, well most of us."We had to destroy the planet to save it."

cosmicbank

form a one world govenment then United Earth would defeat the aliens then we can go back to killing each other.

The backstory from Princess Ryan's Space Marines Miniature Rules (Mark G. McLaughlin), East Wind Rain Co. 1991 seems to fall into a similar type situation that you presented above.

Daughter of an American writer, Ryan was in the process of marrying Harry, Prince of Wales, when a spaceship appeared over London. lts arrival only temporarily delayed the wedding at Westminster Abbey. The occupants of the spaceship, two envoys from the Holy, Universal and Glorious Empire, were so impressed by the pomp and circumstance of the ceremony that they invited themselves to attend.

Erroneously assuming that such a grand event could only be held for the rulers of a world, the envoys mistakenly reported that Ryan and Harry were in charge of the planet. After all, the royal wedding mirrored events in their empire, and notions of nobility, titles and social rank were far easier for them to understand than the more obscure tenets of the multitude of multinational corporations and democratic institutions that really governed the Earth. Bureaucrats and administrators sent out from the core of the great galactic empire were briefed accordingly, and thus, the myth was perpetuated.

Unable to convince the imperial ambassadors that the prince and princess had no real authority, the governments of Earth decided to make the best of it. They set up the royal couple as liaison officers between themselves and the imperial agents.

A minor planet on the outer rim of a huge star empire, Earth had little choice but to accept the subordinate position of client state. As with all client planets, Earth was required to provide combat units to serve as auxiliary forces to the imperial fleets and legions. Several units were formed, but first among them was Princess Ryan's Space Marines …

I guess that we will be forced to use the massive grand cannon that is in the far west of the US to destroy their ships in orbit. Then we would have to deploy our hidden fleets of jump capable warships to their planet of origin and bombard them from orbit because annoyed us so.